6: The silhouette of a powerful figure instantly annihilates an alien.

"Drip."

A drop of murky water slid down a rusted pipe and splashed onto the flooded ground, creating a crisp echo.

In this dead silent, abandoned mining station, the sound was amplified infinitely, like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

The air was thick with a nauseating stench.

It was the smell of rotting flesh mixed with fermented machine oil.

Gu Pingsheng walked at the very front.

His steps were light, his tactical boots making almost no sound on the metal grating. On his Tactical Eyepiece, a stream of pale blue data was rapidly refreshing.

[Environment scanning...]

[Threat Level: Medium]

[Life-form reactions detected: 5]

[Distance: 15 meters]

He stopped in his tracks.

Behind him, the group of girls followed tremblingly.

They were like a flock of startled quails, huddled together, still unable to stop shaking even with iron bars and wrenches in their hands.

"Why did we stop?"

Zhao Min asked in a low voice, a clear tremor in her tone.

"Shh."

Lin Qinghan made a gesture for silence.

Her ice sword was vibrating slightly; it was an instinctive perception of danger.

"Something is coming."

Before her words could even land.

"Roar—!!!"

A tyrannical roar suddenly exploded from the shadows to the side.

Immediately after, several dark figures charged out like cannonballs.

They were zombies.

But they were completely different from the slow-moving zombies in movies.

They were over two meters tall, with knotted muscles and skin of a strange grayish-iron color, embedded with several rusted metal plates.

[Iron-skinned Zombie (Tier 2)]

[Strength: 25]

[Agility: 15]

[Defense: 30 (Hard for ordinary swords to damage in the slightest)]

[Traits: Pain Immunity, Bloodthirsty Berserk.]

Five in total.

Their murky, yellowed eyeballs stared intently at this group of fresh flesh, viscous saliva dripping from their mouths.

"Ah—!!!"

A scream instantly pierced the darkness.

Su Ruan sat on the ground in fright, her rabbit plushie falling into the dirty water.

The other girls were in even more of a mess; some turned to run, while others were so scared their legs went soft, making them unable to move.

"Don't run blindly! Form a formation!"

Lin Qinghan shouted.

She stepped forward, blocking the way in front of everyone. She swung the ice sword in her hand forcefully.

"Ice Wall!"

Crack—

A half-meter-thick wall of ice rose from the ground, blocking the zombie charging at the very front.

"Bang!"

The zombie slammed hard into the Ice Wall.

Ice shards flew.

Several cracks actually appeared on that hard Ice Wall from the impact.

"Such great strength..."

Lin Qinghan's face turned pale.

She had the S-Rank Talent [Ice Age]; although its potential was immense, she had only just awakened, and her level was too low.

"I'll help!"

Ye Hongyu gritted her teeth and rushed forward.

She had awakened the A-Rank Talent [Whip of Thorns].

The hemp rope in her hand, originally used for tying cargo, now turned into a long whip covered in barbs under the buff of her talent.

"Crack!"

The long whip lashed heavily onto a zombie's back.

Sparks flew everywhere.

That zombie only swayed its body; a white mark was left on the iron skin on its back, without even breaking the skin.

Instead, it was enraged.

"Roar!"

The zombie let out a roar, grabbed the tip of the whip, and yanked it hard.

"Ah!"

Ye Hongyu cried out as she was yanked into the air by a massive force, falling heavily to the ground.

"Hongyu!"

Zhao Min wanted to go help her but was blocked by another zombie.

Despair.

Deep despair.

This wasn't a battle at all.

This was a massacre.

These girls, usually pampered and spoiled, were as fragile as paper when facing such true killing machines.

"Help... Save me..."

Su Ruan curled up in a corner, watching as a zombie opened its bloody maw and lunged toward her.

That foul breath had already sprayed onto her face.

She closed her eyes, waiting for death to arrive.

Just then.

"Bang!"

A loud explosion.

Like a clap of thunder, it exploded in the enclosed mine.

Su Ruan didn't feel any pain.

Only a splash of warm liquid hit her face.

She tremblingly opened her eyes.

She saw that the zombie that had just lunged at her had its head explode like a watermelon.

The headless corpse swayed twice before crashing to the ground.

Black blood mixed with white brain matter flowed all over the floor.

Everyone was stunned.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

They looked in the direction of the gunshot.

Gu Pingsheng stood there.

Holding a gun with one hand.

The silver Desert Eagle's muzzle was emitting wisps of blue smoke.

His expression was very calm.

So calm it was as if he had just casually swatted a fly.

"So noisy."

He said indifferently.

Then.

He raised his hand.

Pulled the trigger.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Four gunshots.

Extremely rhythmic.

With every gunshot, a zombie fell to the ground.

No wasted movement.

No flashy techniques.

Just a simple raising of the hand and firing.

But in Gu Pingsheng's vision, the [Tactical Eyepiece] had already locked onto every zombie's weakness.

That red crosshair was precisely centered on the cartilage between the zombies' eyebrows.

That was the only weakness of the Iron-skinned Zombies.

Combined with the purple quality bonus of the [Infinite Ammo · Desert Eagle].

The explosive bullets instantly tore through the zombies' hard skulls, churning the brain tissue inside into a pulp.

Ten seconds.

Just ten seconds.

The five Tier 2 zombies that had just plunged Lin Qinghan and the others into a desperate struggle had all turned into corpses on the ground.

A deathly silence.

Only the crisp sound of shell casings falling to the ground.

"Clink."

This sound seemed to strike Lin Qinghan's heart.

Her hand holding the ice sword was trembling slightly.

Not out of fear.

But because of the shock.

She looked at the man's back.

The black combat suit outlined a tall and straight figure, and the silver gun in his hand emitted a cold killing intent.

Strong.

Too strong.

This kind of strength wasn't something that could be matched just by luckily awakening an S-Rank Talent.

It was absolute control over power, an extreme indifference toward life and death.

Gu Pingsheng Put away the gun.

He didn't give those girls a single glance, nor did he pay any mind to their admiring or terrified gazes.

He walked to a zombie's corpse and crouched down.

He pulled out the [Alloy Ship-Slasher Blade] from his waist.

"Puchi."

The tip of the blade pierced the zombie's chest and skillfully flicked.

A grayish-white crystal rolled out.

[Obtained: Zombie Core (Tier 2) x1]

Gu Pingsheng picked up the core, wiped the blood off on the zombie's clothes, and casually tossed it into his backpack.

Then he moved to the next one.

His movements were smooth and flowing, so practiced it was heartbreaking.

It was as if this wasn't his first time doing this, but as if he had already been struggling in this apocalypse for ten years.

"Blegh—"

Finally, someone couldn't take the bloody scene and leaned against the wall to vomit.

Liu Ruyan's face was deathly pale; looking at Gu Pingsheng's blood-covered hands, her eyes were filled with terror.

Is this even human?

This is simply a cold-blooded butcher!

Gu Pingsheng finished digging out all the cores.

He stood up and flicked the blood droplets off his blade.

His gaze swept over the group of girls who were still in a daze.

"What are you standing around for?"

His voice was as cold as ice.

"Do you want to stay here and be their midnight snack?"

After saying that.

He turned and continued walking deeper into the mine.

That was where the true core of the dungeon lay.

It was also the place with the richest resources.

Lin Qinghan took a deep breath.

She looked at Gu Pingsheng's back, her eyes becoming extremely complicated.

Previously in class, Gu Pingsheng was just an invisible person.

His grades were average; though his looks were stunning, his personality was taciturn.

Moreover, he skipped classes almost all the time.

She hadn't even seen him many times.

But now.

That back seemed like a great mountain, pressing down on her so hard she couldn't breathe.

At the same time, it gave her an unprecedented sense of security.

As long as she followed him... she could survive.

Once this thought arose, it could no longer be dismissed.

Lin Qinghan gritted her teeth and put away her ice sword.

She didn't check on Liu Ruyan, who was still vomiting, nor did she comfort Su Ruan, who was crying from fright.

She quickly caught up.

Closely following behind that man.

Even just looking at his back was much more reassuring than staying with the others.

"Wait for me!"

Zhao Min also snapped out of it, pulled up the still-shaking Su Ruan, and stumbled after them.

Seeing this, how could the other girls dare to stay.

One by one, they scrambled to keep up, fearing they would be left behind.

In this dark mine.

That man's back became the only light.

Even if this light was bone-chillingly cold.